>> i love his lamb. how much time do weave left? >> go. >> bret: the head of the energy department is grilled on capitol hill over a half-billion dollar loan guarantee for failing green energy firm. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. the man who runs the energy department for president obama says he did not know that members of his own staff saw major problems with a huge taxpayer funded loan guarantee for solar power company. solyndra. chief washington correspondent james rosen reports on the day of reckoning for steven chu. >> reporter: in five hours of system before energy house sub committee, steven chu maintained he made the final

decision on solyndra on the merit and denied political interference by the white house. >> i'm aware of no communication from white house to department of energy saying to make the loan or restructure. >> after intensive internal debate among his aides, president obama toured solyndra last year and touted it as a model of green energy innovation, aided by $535 million in stimulus funds used to guarantee the company loans. but this summer they declared bankruptcy. they pressed chu on the red flags raised about the shaky finances and e-mail sent by officials at the doe and white house office of management and budget. >> were you aware that your own staff that worked for you was predicting bankruptcy in 2011, prophetically two years? >> i was not aware. >> reporter: chu said the department general counsel saw no legal problem with chu's move last december to restructure solyndra loan, amid increasing concerns about

the cash flow an viability. that decision placed taxpayers behind private investor in the line to recover funds in the event that solyndra went bankrupt, which it did. g.o.p. lawmakers call it a violation of law. >> we had two choices. you stopped giving them the money that was agreed upon and forced them to bankruptcy, or do you go forward and we were always, always focused on that path that could get as much taxpayer recovery as possible. >> you are trying to do your job as the best you can. i also happen to believe it's possible you are being set up to be the fall guy. >> committee democrat agree with chu that the u.s. can ill afford to turn its back on green energy. >> house republicans and the coal and oil industry allies are manufacturerring a scanda scandal. >> this hearing today is not about solar power. the hearing today is about the

possible abuse of executive power and of the taxpayers money. >> afterwards chu told reporters he and his colleagues worked on solyndra have nothing to be ashamed about. the sub committee chairman congressman stern just minutes ago called on chu to resign. >> much more on this with the panel. days before their deadline, republicans and democrats on the deficit reduction committee have not been able to compromise on the issue of whether there has been a compromise offer. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel has tonight's update. >> in the final days before this super committee deadline, sources say reforming the tax code remains the central sticking point with members trying to write it in detail so the revenue could be counted if there is a deal. after a two-hour meeting with fellow democrats, cochair patty murray suggested the democrats compromised. >> we have met their offer on revenue, but we have said that it has to be fair. >> democrats offered a plan yesterday with about $350 billion in new tax revenue but republicans quickly dismissed it because

it allows the bush tax cut for upper income americans to expire. the announcement caught republican cochair jeb hensarling by surprise who told reporters, "i am unaware of any offer or any idea from any democrat that did not include a minimum of a central dollar tax increase." with time running out on the panel of 12, speaker john boehner pressed the fellow congressional leaders to help. >> the leaders had some responsibility to help the committee succeed. >> house democratic leader nancy pelosi sought to lower expectations. >> i dent hear anything that sounds big and bold. >> the republican toomey plan designed to get a deal included about $250 billion in new tax revenue from closing loopholes, cutting subsidies and reforming the code. that's drawn heat from conservatives who pledged not to raise taxes. >> instead of talking about cutting, the debate now seems to be how can we take more from the american people and n taxes to feed our addiction. >> trying to fight the addiction the house has taken

up a balanced budget amendment which conservatives believe would help the government live within its means. >> i'm for a balanced budget amendment because i think it would be tremendous improvement to the current situation where in the last 50 years they only balanced the budget six times and we had $15 trillion national debt. >> today, some lawmakers affiliated with the tea party unveiled their plan to seek to cut $9.7 trillion over ten years through deep cuts. slinking the federal government from 24% of gdp to 16%. >> it would also salvage our ability to fund everything from defense to entitlements if we reform it. we have to start the process of reforming it now and take bold aggressive steps to do that. >> while all here on capitol hill, wait to see if the super committee reach a deal. the members do not seem overly optimistic. they are already speaking openly about plans for weekend sessions of the panel. bret? >> here we go again. mike, thank you. the man suspected of firing at the white house assault rival with assault rifle has been charged with attempting to

assassinate the president. 21-year-old oscar ramirez ortega hernandez appeared in court today. secret service agents found two bullets they believe he filed from his car friday night. witnesses interviewed in the home state of idaho says he was obsessed trying to hurt the president. >> of course the president was already, may have already begun his overseas trip when the shooting occurred. he is preparing to participate in east asia summit in indonesia. while most of you were sleeping the president wrapped up his visit to australia, by making a lot of promises. but can he keep them? ed henry is in bali, indonesia, with the latest. >> after emotional scene for

uss precious, leaving so many dead pearl harbor, president obama fired up a crowd of australian troops and 50 u.s. marines. but as he tries to deepen friendship overseas a fresh reminder in the latest fox news poll of the enormous challenges waiting for him back home. 68% of americans think the economy has not started to turn the corner. only 29% believe the worst is over. which is why he is trying to handle the message by economic summit in hawaii to start. >> my highest priority is putting americans back to work. >> to australian -- dawd dawd >> this is to create my priority. to create jobs for the

american people. >> fox poll think he is coming up short. 48% say the policies hurt the economy. 35%sy they helped. congressional republicans will realize they are less popular than him. 80% of americans disapprove of congress. >> do i anticipate that at some point, they recognize doing nothing is not an option. that is my hope. that should be their help, too. if they don't we'll have different leaders in congress. >> at the last stop in bali, we are told the president about to announce boeing and general motors sealed trade deal with indonesian airline company worth $25 billion. it could bring back 100,000 u.s. jobs.

>> attorney general eric holder former chief of staff was questioned about operation fast and furious. kevin olson is up for judgeship for armed forces. it featured questions about the failed gun tracking program. >> there is language demanding it be turned over to military custody. they use defense deparent fund to bring detainees from guantanamo bay prison to u.s. administration boasts about the openness behind closed doors. that is later in the grapevin grapevine. grapevine. up next, occupy wall stree [ male announcer ] butter. love the taste, but want to cut back on f?

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>> bret: the occupy wall street movement is fighting back against moves to get them

out of several cities. they are staging mass gatherings across the country today with something special going on in new york. that's where we find senior correspondent rick leventhal tonight. good evening, rick. >> good evening, bret. this afternoon, the nypd arrested 177 people, that number has already gone up. there were a bunch of people that just sat down in the middle of center street next to us at the base of the brooklyn bridge. refused to move, so the nypd put cuffs on them and hauled them off. they call at it day of action. plenty of it. right now, give you a live look at foley square where thousands of demonstrators flooded lower manhattan. they are holding signs and flags and chanting, they are trying to make the voices heard here, talking about the disparity in income and the need to tighten things up on wall street. earlier today, down on wall street, many of the arrests took place, it was chaotic. well over 1,000 demonstrators. well over 1,000 police officers, many of them in riot gear. they had set up metal barricades along a lot of

streets surrounding wall and broad, not allowing demonstrators to get close to the stockton. thestock -- new york stock exchange. they did get locked arm in arm and wouldn't move and sat down on the street. police moved in to arrest them. other confrontations as well. some police officers were injured. one was cut on the hand by some glass and required they tell us 20 stitches. several officers apparently had liquid thrown in their face. a demonstrator who threw the liquid allegedly among those arrested today. tonight, the plan for the demonstrators is at some point to cross the brooklyn bridge behind me. they say in some cases they may sit down and try to get arrested. the last time they did this, 700 people were taken in to custody. >> we'll monitor it. thank you. protesters in italy and greece protested against the prospect of new austerity measures today. students clash with riot police in iran. in rome, protesters threw

oranges at police. authorities had to fire tear gas and use stun grenades to disperse rioters in athens. both country are trying to cut cost and raise revenue to avoid economic collapse. if we had a vet of confidence here, like parliament do in greece and elsewhere, the president may not come out too well. the latest fox news poll shows 62% question -- 56% would vote no confidence. stocks were down today. the dow dropped 135. s&p 500 gave back 21. nasdaq closed 52 behind. request for unemployment benefits dropped by 5,000 last week. to 388,000. the four-week average dipped below the 400,000 mark for the first time in seven months. continueed jobs crisis is but one problem for congress. today there was attention on another. it those do with a huge voting block, demanding to be heard and threatening lawmakers with retribution if it is not.

chief washington correspondent jim angle is covering that story. >> are we ready to fight? >> yeah. >> a group of liberal lawmakers rallied today against any cuts in entitlement and invoke occupy wall street movement. >> we want to welcome you to the first meeting of occupy the joint committee. >> meaning the super committee and if it didn't have enough trouble already, the aarp is running an ad with pointed warning of its own. >> washington, before you think of cutting my medicare, social security benefits, here is a number you should remember. 50 million. 50 million seniors that earned our benefits. you will be hearing from us today and on election day. >> that is the most disgusting, the most disgusting ad i've ever seen. >> disgusting, the co-chairman of the fiscal chairman says because it has a painful fact that programs such as medicare are unsustainable unless changes are made.

that is not the view among the liberals who rallied today. >> we are not going to accept social security, medicare and medicaid cuts. we are not going to abandon seniors and children. >> aarp argues that congress should bring down healthcare costs before it considers changes. >> the debate we are having in congress now is not about holding down healthcare costs. we think the real debate has to be lowering healthcare costs, not simply shifting the cost to somebody else. >> with the baby boomers retiring the federal government promised tens of trillions more in benefit than it can pay for. jim martin runs a group that takes a different view from aarp, which he advertises, and martin advocates careful reforms to keep the program sol vent. >> the fact is with more going on the rolls, there isn't enough money to go around to provide the services we need. unless we reform the system. >> that is why the super committee has been looking at modest changes to entitlements. >> even the president said the

major drivers of our debt are medicare, medicaid, and healthcare. nothing else comes close. >> budget talks argue something has to be done, in part because entitlement will bankrupt the u.s. as currently constructed because they promise $4 trillion more in benefit than they can pay for. if the programs were to collapse, the poor would be hit hardest. bret? >> thank you. the way americans feel about their healthcare coverage has become more negative in the past year. that is the finding of a new gallup survey. 47% of republicans question rate the healthcare coverage as excellent or good. that is down from 61% last november. ratings from independents are down from 35% to 29%. only 27% of democrats said excellent or good coverage the same. as in 2010. still ahead, the man behind the eighth largest bankruptcy in u.s. history. but first, herman cain says there is no jumping off the cain train.

>> bret: mitt romney again defends the massachusetts healthcare plan. an herman cain remains defiant in the wake of self-inflicted wounds. chief political correspondent carl cameron has tonight's 2012 campaign roundup. >> an hour and 15 minutes late for rare rally in the primary state of new hampshire, embattled front runner herman cain says they will dismiss the gaffes and controversies and stick with him. >> some people want to convict me in the court of public opinion. but the thing about it is the people that are on the cain train, they don't get off because of that crap. >> this morning, cain skipped a schedule one-hour editorial board meeting with the new hampshire highly influential and conservative leader union newspaper. the aides asked the paper last night to cut the interview to 20 minutes.

the paper refused and cain was a no-show. earlier in week, cain struggled ok wardly to describe the libya policy during milwaukee paper editorial paper meeting. instead of risking a grilling in new hampshire he told the rally grab his critics mistaken deliberation for being stumped. >> the point they're missing is i think before i speak. i know that is a novel idea. >> cain accused of reporter of gotcha questions yesterday. he also appeared unaware of the u.s. asylum policy toward cuban refugees and said inaccurately that the house g.o.p. won the current majority in 2008. when it was in 2010. no candidate has been scrutinizeed more than mitt romney. he has been atop the polls for a year and constantly on defense for implementing healthcare reform for governor of massachusetts that became model for obamacare nationwide. today, with cavuto was no exception. >> i believe we did the right thing for our state at the time. he's not working perfectly.

the things i'd change in it. if it hurts me politically, that's just the consequence of the truth. >> romney appear voss covered his tracks before running for president. as the one massachusetts gubernatorial term was ending, top aides purchased their office computers from the state and had their e-mails wiped clean. according to the boston globe, romney had other state house computers that may have had sensitive information replaced with new ones. surging in the poll, former house speaker newt gingrich is having his turn under the microscope. he does not deny being insider but disputes being labeled lobbyists, denying payments including one from freddie mac was for consulting. a new survey in iowa taken saturday and published today by pollster scott rasmussen shows gingrich leading the pack with 32%. mitt romney is in second. he slipped to 17%. herman cain at 13% and continues to fall. that is just ahead of ron paul with 10%. the rest of the field is in single digits, bret and we are

now less than seven weeks from the first test in the lead-off ku cuss state of iowa. >> bret: the next debate is december 15. carl, thank you. our debate, i should say. in international news, pakistani intelligence officials say suspected u.s. drones killed eight alleged militants today. that is in addition to 16 insurgents reportedly taken out by missile strikes wednesday. turkey's prime minister says the world must hear the screams of syrian protesters. syrian allies russia and china are expressing syria's concern over the continued crackdown on dissent. activists say five civilians and four former soldiers were killed across the country today. the u.n.'s atomic organization new resolution on iran does not allow probe for alleged work on nuclear weapons. that is said to be a concession to iranian ally, russia and china. iran nuclear program is running in to more problems. senior correspondent amy

kellogg tells us what they are. >> iran just announced it was hit with a new virus called duke use, which attacked iran uranium enrichment facility last year. it may be part of a widespread effort to stop iran nuclear program in its tracks. >> explosion at missile plant over the weekend killed the father of the three, the missile for which the u.n. nuclear watchdog said iran worked on warhead designs. there is speculation this is sabotage. as iran refuses to rein in the nuclear program, the west contemplates how to slow it down. with russia and china refusing further sanctions there is much talk of a new era of cyber attacks in convention with other pressures. >> cyber gives you the ability to be more aggressive without major consequences; particularly, initially. almost like the little kid can poke a stick in the eye of the big bully and not get his nose

bloodied at the same time. >> iran declared a cyber war on the west. assembled cyber armies. they attached a dutch computer security firm and threatened to do more. >> [ inaudible ] given that iran has lots of sources, financially sources. a huge amount of revenue from the political region is there. we want to destruct the west. >> they warned of something big to come but they wouldn't say what or when. there may be bluster there, but experts say never sell anyone short in cyber space, because the cyber ops can give the smaller countrys asymmetric impact on larger adversaries. in london, amy kellogg, fox news. >> bret: the administration kisses up to transparency advocates while kissing off reporters. and when is a kiss, not just a kiss? let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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>> bret: now to political grapevine. joe biden attended a meeting on government transparency and accountability, but little of either since it was closed to the press. you will recall the administration vowed to be the most open and transparent in history. earlier in year, president obama accepted an award for his commitment to open and transparent government. in a meeting also closed to

the media. the "washington post" notes reporters often complain about access at bill signings and meetings from are either canceled over closed to keep them from shouting questions. a new united colors of benneton ad campaign has been getting attention. and getting criticism. the unhate campaign features various world leaders photo shopped kissing. president obama makes two appearances kissing chinese leader hu jintao and venezuela hugo chavez. the white house noted it disapproves of commercial use of the president's likeness. israel benjamin netanyahu is seen kissing mahmoud abbas. germany's angela merkel kissing nicolas sarkozy. bennaton says it's some billick images of reconciliation with ironic hope and constructive provocation. the vatican did not agree and asked them to pull pope benedict kissing cairo imam, which it did.

almost nobody wants to kiss congress these days. michael bennett decided to compare congress' 9% approval rating to other surveys. he found the following to be more popular than congress. the i.r.s., president nixon during water gate, b.p. in the gulf oil spill and the idea of the u.s. going communist. there is at least one person less popular than congress. cuba's mat fidel castro. we tell you yesterday that the huge bankruptcy of m.f. global has not been getting mainstream media coverage. tonight, correspondent doug mckelway looks at the man at thal cros when m.f. global went down. >> if not wearing a seat belt in 90-mile-per-hour crash on the turnpike qualified jon corzine as a risk-taker, some say it paled in comparison to the risk with m.f. global. >> they didn't have the risk management tools at the time up to date.

corzine did bet the ranch. >> he was once held as wise financial sage. >> i literally picked up the phone and called jon corzine. what do you think we should do? >> corzine sits atop wreckage of mf global a company that crashed in spectacular fashion after disclosing $6 billion exposure to euro zone nations like italy and portugal. in addition to the bankruptcy filing and layoffs of 1,000 employees, m.f. global told authorities $600 million of customer money is missing. >> i didn't tell you they would be breaking the law? >> the statute is clear that

the customer money has to be segregated at all times to the day. at every moment of the day. they are in deficiency in their own words and own e-mail of monday. >> gensel recused himself from the investigation admitting to a long relationship with corzine. they worked together at goldman sachs. and corzine arranged a speaking engage him for him last year. he also contributed $10,000 to the new jersey democratic party. corzine resigned of ceo of m.g. global this month and hired prominent defense attorney. attempts by fox news to reach him at his new jersey home have been unsuccessful. in washington, doug mckelway, fox news. >> bret: president obama says cigarette companies are fighting new warning labels because they do not want to be honest about the witnesses of smoking. the president, former smoker made the video tied to the great american smoke-out. the labels approved last june

are powerfully graphic. tobacco companies are suing saying they cross the line from warning to advocacy. we will talk about the energy secretary's testimony on the solyndra affair when the fox all-stars join me after the br

are you aware of any contact by someone from the white house to anybody in the d.o.e.? did anybody bring that to your attention asking them to take an unusual action relating to the low guarantee or to the restructuring? >> no, i'm aware of no communication from white house to department of energy saying to make the loan or to restructure. >> it was a difficult decision and we were always focused on that path to get as much taxpayers money as possible. >> how much money do you think

will be recovered? >> that remains to be seen. >> what are youers mating? >> i'm estimating not much. >> five hours of testimony for energy secretary steven chu before the house energy and commerce sub committee. in that, he maintained he made the time decision on the loan guarantee. $535 million to solyndra. and that he knew of no contact or political interference by the white house. after the hearing, the congressman cliff stearns from florida, the sub committee chairman released this. saying i agree with the point of dan carroll and obama campaign senior advisor who called on the white house to replace chu earlier this year in an e-mail. chu has failed the test. in my personal opinion i agree with mr. carol he should be replaced by the president." what about this testimony this what did we learn? what comes out of it? the panel, steve hayes for "weekly standard." mara liasson, political correspondent of national public radio. syndicated columnist charles

krauthammer. steve? >> it's accurate to call him offensive today. he couldn't describe what had happened at the department of energy as incompetence. there was no bankruptcy and asked if mistakes were made monitoring the approval process after the loan he said no. he wouldn't cop to it and refused to answer the question. that is the big picture. the damaging testimony came in an exchange with a democrat, of texas, who asked him about the process of subordinating the loan during the restructuring. green, a democrat -- >> bret: which means so people follow it, taxpayers would be put behind the investors of solyndra to be paid back. >> private investors. >> taxpayers come second. private investors jump ahead. green who was part of the team that wrote this bill back in 2005 said look, don't you think that the bill as we written it, the law as we had written it, expressly prohibited that?

and chu said no, i don't think it did. and we took it to our counsel. the lawyers said we could do it. green, the democrat said this is not what we intended. we need to fix the law. and i don't understand how you can possibly interpret what is written in plain language not having been a violation of the law. it was a stunning moment. green was trying the whole time, he was trying to not to be too tough on him. he said he believed in the issue. believed in green energy, but that this was in his view violation of the law. >> what remains to be seen is there will be some illegality found, whether there is influence by the white house. >> bret: hold on. if they found out that this is true, an effort to subordinate. >> the law, that would be a problem. but they have to determine that. >> bret: they restructured the law.

it is against the law. >> that's unclear to me. but certainly i think that the majority of the people paying attention to this would want taxpayers to get the money back first before the private investors if we are talking about government back loan. >> you don't think the political side of it is sticking? >> the political side of it, i think anytime you have a cabinet secretary up on capitol hill for five hours being grilled, not batting away the questions easily, it is a problem. >> this is about a much bigger debate about whether the government should be subsidizing clean energy or not. the obama administration says even if you lose a few, overall effort is worth it. >> separate in this case, was this is a case where there was negligence, the law ignored or worse? i think chu is honorable as a guy who says the buck stops with me. obviously, he will take the bullet to protect the white

house. which is something everybody in government ought to do. say it stops with me. what they call in britain miesterial, being responsible ministerially. in his case, it shows that even if you are a nobel prize winner, the skills don't necessarily translate in to agency. he was asked if he was aware that the pressure they put on solyndra to delay last year, planned announcement of layoff as solyndra was going under. layoffs were planned be announced october 28. energy department pressureed solyndra in to delaying it until the 3rd of november. by accident obviously. day after election day. and chu says he wasn't aware of that. i believe him. ignorance is probably an argue

in the favor of innocence. but it's also argument in favor of incompetence. >> do you agree he is being set up to be a fall guy? >> i don't think anybody is ordinarying him. he is an honorable guy saying if there are mistakes, i'm a guy responsible. ultimately, he may have to resign. i'm not sure anybody held a gun to his head and said you have to say that. >> democrats are saying he is manufacturer and a stunt from republicans to try to essentially run against the administration. and clean energy issue. >> i was listening to the hearing today. >> this is ironic to have henry waxman say, steven chu told us there was no political influence. that puts the issue to rest. really? when was the last time henry

waxman said that listening to somebody say something actually mattered? i think the big issue here is that what charles touched on. there is the preloan part and post loan approval part. he was highly involved and eag ore have the loan approved and push it through. what he said today in response to questions, i'm not aware. he said i am aware of it now. people would ask him, did you know this or know this? he couldn't answer. i'm aware of it now. the fact we heard it a dozen times in his testimony suggests it's beginning of a bigger controversy >> bret: last thing. you had the attorney general on fast and furious saying he wasn't aware of the operation and clarifying. now you had the secretary of energy saying he is not aware of it. there are e-mails out there. there is not the end of. >> no, this is what you have

when you have the operation government. one party is in power and this will continue. >> you say i'm not responsible and unaware, you shouldn't be in that position. >> bret: next up, mf global bankruptcy. bankruptcy. who is to the markets never stop moving. of course, neither do i. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. the market shifts, i get an alert. [ cellphone rings ] thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts.

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♪ ♪ the president and i weren't back there blaming sine corzine. we were on the phone calling corzine. literally. i literally picked up the phone and called corzine. john, what do you think we should do?

we knew he knew about economy, world markets, how we had to respond almost like unone anyone we knew. because he had been in the pit, he had been in the furnace. we trusted his judgment. >> that is president joe biden. talking about jon corzine. the former new jersey governor. former senator from new jersey now atop the wreckage of m.f. global. they are saying they are missing $600,000 of customer money. back with the panel. >> i can hear corzine on the phone call saying joe, buy italian bonds. buy heavy. look, if this guy were a republican exsenator, exgor, as you say, the ninth largest -- >> bret: eighth largest bankruptcy. >> eighth largest bankruptcy

in american history. all kind of inquiries. the reason it isn't the main street narrative is the wall street, greed, republican, conservatives. scandal it has been buried as much as it has. >> bret: the president said glowing things about corzine and now there are questions about the legality of what is happening here. what about the coverage of this? >> first, if corzine has been closer to the previous job as governor it might be getting more attention. the taxpayers is not on the hook. it failed, as it should. no awe huge investigation.

who knows, there might be criminality. it is embarrassing. many, many -- nobody is saying we should have bailed out m.g. global. taxpayer is on the look. this is embarrassing of a tape of biden up and down. jon corzine was supposed to be a genius at this. he had come from goldman sachs and he was going to perform the same magic, make them mini gold match satchs and this -- goldman sachs. this is what happened. >> but there is still not attention from this company. >> one thing about koch pie wall street. i don't know if there is too much attention to m.f. global. maybe not.

there will be very little difference. >> this is in the context of italy and euro zone. the company in greece and how it goes forward. they put a bet on the country, steve. bet wrong. >> yeah. bet wrong. in a significant way. one of the reasons that he was not able, he didn't do this at goldman sachs he wasn't making the decisions alone. >> look, i it don't make too much about joe biden of all people saying nice things about politician. or former politician. at a campaign stop. that to me is less than the big issue here. the bigger issue here, as the doug mckelway piece demonstrated earlier is there was $600 million missing. unaccounted for, for five

days. it didn't tell the federal investigators about it for five days. gary gensler so close to corzine he had to recuse himself from the investigation said basically yeah. that is a huge problem for him. a violation of the law. >> biden and others in the administration said they called corzine at the beginning of the set up of the stimulus. to see what the do. they would have done the same thing. >> the investigation. >> sure. the investigation, where it goes, where the story goes, where corzine goes, he hired high-price attorney to try to protect him from what could be coming. >> the bigger story is that italy and greece are now on the brink. worse, contagion is spreading north. french bonds are at the highest level in 14 years.

italy already is over the redline percent on the bonds. the french are worried sick because french banks are holding a lot of italian and greek bonds. the germans in the end will decide they are in no mood to degrade their own currency and bail out what they see as the lazy southern europeans. >> the european central bank has to engage in the french bonds and german bonds are the same as greek bonds, which they are not. >> bret: a huge story. we have follow it every day on "special report." because it affects the u.s. economy directly. that's it for the panel. stay tuned for perhaps a new cautious approach from

>> bret: finally tonight, some g.o.p. presidential candidates have had some public gaffes recently. now everyone is taking notice. and some candidates may be getting a little cautious. from new frontrunner newt gingrich. >> i'm newt gingrich, i wke